The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-03-17
IN THE CRESCENT CITY.
Some Delightfully."- Old Things to Be Seen
III New Orleans Frenchtown.


ia New Orleans Frenchtown.
1t is in Frenchtown that one must
ookfor antiquities. Two squares down
Royal street from Canal one can see on
corner house the signs Rue Royale,"
Rue Bienville" Near Bienville street
is a secondhand bookstore, where
many treasures may still be found by
the bibliOmaniac. Further down ROYAL
ttreet are other secondhand book
stores. A few years since very valuable
books could be bought at any of these
places for atrifie. Strangers, however,
have discovered them. and the propri-
etOrS are beginning to learn the value
of their wares. A short time since
stranger gave 500 for rare book he
found in one of these stores. What
extravaganza" said his friend. son
the contrary" replied the stranger. sit
is worth $500" There are a few of
these old bookstores yet undiscovered.
One, hidden away in One-story house
on Urselines street, scarcely shows from
the banquette.
Delightful old bric-a-brac shops also
abound in Frenchtown, from which the
painstaking antiquarian can unearth
much that is valuable. In the dark
corners he will shake the dust from
quaint, spindle-legged, brass-clawed
tables, antique cabinets and bookcases.
rich in carving and nearly black with
age, or he may stumble against exquis-
lite buhl furniture, whose gold mounting
is all obscured with dust and cobwebs,
or again, he may find on some dingy
shelf lovely old Sevres vases and choice
bits of Bohemian ware. All these relies
Of Il by-gOne luxury, when the Creoles
went to Paris for their shopping, as we
now 90 to New York. bear mournful
witness to the fast fading glory of the
French quarter. Time and decay, how
ever, only add to its interest and render
it infinitely more picturesque. From
Bienville street down almost every
house attracts ones attention, while the
perspective of many gables, of red-tiled
roofs. of dormer windows and jutting
balconies, whose baluStradeS show ex-
quisite arabeSque work in iron, presents
Il variable scene of enchantment. There
is nothing like it on this continent.
The many balconies are often lovely
hanging gardens, with vines trailing
through the rich arabesque work, or
creeping up the gray house front and
ablaze with scarlet geraniums or other
Towering plants.
Queer little alleys pierce from one
street to another. all with their jutting
balconies, and sometimes little bridge
swings from the second-story windows
across the narrow passageway. The
charm of the scene steals upon ones
senses, and as one gazeS at the hoary,
many-cOlored old houses, one can i'm
agine them again peopled with the
heroes and heroines of history and rO-
nance. Many memories cluster about
a picturesque little church on Rampant
street, which was Pere Antoine's NOR
tuary chapel, and long used as place
for the exposition of dead bodies and
the performance of funeral ceremonies.
It is now Il church for the Italian Cath
olics of the city. Histories are attached
to many houses in the French quarter,
of which nothing has yet been written.
There is house on the corner of Royal
and Hospital streets which has the rep
utatiOn of being haunted. l think it is
now unoccupied. The doors and other
woodwork about this house are models
of exquisite carving, all madein France,
and a room in it has been pointed out
as the one occupied by Louis PHILIPPE
during his stay in New Orleans. This
is not true. however, for the King was
the guest OF the Vicomte Vaudeville de
Marigny and the house in which they
resided was burned to the ground few
wears since.-N o. Cor. San Francisco
(ibrO7icIe